Amanda Palmer: Hello, I am Amanda Palmer. Songwriter and professional recovering
narcissist. And co-founder of The Dresden Dolls.

BH: you've released your debut studio album by yourselves, was it an important
decision ? i read that you had signed with a major, is it easier to deal with
corporate businessmen after having released an album by yourselves ? why did you
ultimately choose to sign on a major?

Amanda: We originally shopped the record around and were on the brink of
releasing it with a small label in Boston, but good sense descended upon me and
I realised we'd be much better off self-releasing and holding off for a better
deal. It was impossibly hard work, kick-starting a label with no time and money,
but we managed. We ultimately found a great distribution deal with a larger
label, which is still in the offing. Why? Well...once you get to a certain level
you have to make that choice, unless you have a ready-made team of
music-business-oriented friends around you to slave away for no money while you
build your career. Without that, staying DIY isn't practical after a point. As
far as I can see so far, there haven't been any huge sacrifices. If I had gone
into the process naive and unaware of how to run a label we would probably be
getting robbed blind, so it certainly helped.

BH: Is your debut album going to be available worldwide anytime soon ?

AP: Yes...it's released in America on April 27th (2004) and will be imported to
Europe. It's already available on our website, and anyone from Zimbabwe can
order it if they so choose.

BH: you have also released a live album, "A is for Accident," which
features songs that are not on "The Dresden Dolls", do you have a lot
of songs left to record?

AP: Well, we do have a pretty big
back-catalogue. I write a lot, but it's not all fantastic. There's plenty of
terrible crap. We work on a few things at a time, let some things fall away,
make changes. We certainly have enough for the next album, which could take at
least another year to come out.

BH: your sound is quite refreshing, did it come naturally ?

AP: As natural as the day you were born, my love.

SEB WOOd: There's a song by The Fall called 'Dresden Dolls Backdrop' (Dresden
dolls and nazi boys dance arm in arm to formless noise...). Are you named
after this song ?? If so, have you been inspired by The Fall's post-punk
eccentricity in say, their ballet 'I am Kurious Orange' ??

AP: I am a Fall fan, I got into them way back in High School (though they were
sort of past their prime by then, that was in the mid-90's). But the name
references several things at once....the Fall song, a VC Andrews novel, the
porcelain figures themselves, and the firebombing, which everybody knows was a
disaster of epic proportions.

SWd: The twisted cabaret aspect in a song such as 'Girl Anachronism' makes me
think of the early Sparks albums (up to Kimono my House), Alex Harvey and
even David Bowie. Have you been influenced by these artists who used to dress up
on stage ??

AP: Oh, absolutely. I've still never heard the Sparks, but we get a lot of
comparisons...I'll have to check that out....

SWd: You seem to use references often in your lyrics (the Doors in 'Perfect
fit': Blur in 'Sex Change'). Are they true references or mockeries ??

AP: Oh, no, they're not mockeries at all. They are references, the subconscious
thread that strings all art together. I like to think of them as quotes. I love
doing it, I hope I never get sued.

SWd: You describe your music as 'Brechtian punk cabaret', which is quite
bewildering. I've studied Brecht a lot and I can't see what's really brechtian
in the Dresden Dolls. I've never seen you live though. Do you set up posters and
catchphrases on stage ?? Do you consider that dressing up on stage makes your
social double appear ?? Do you think your 'acting' is distanced (I didn't notice
it in 'Girl Anachronism' video for instance) ?? Do you aim at encouraging your
audience to criticize something or is it just a way to signify that your band is
different ??

AP: Very good question. The honest
answer is that the more correct title for us would be
"Brecht/Weillian" but that just doesn't sound as good. It's both a
reference to the style of music that Weill wrote while working with Brecht (both
musically and lyrically, and working with the idea of being slightly painfully
honest and making the audeince squirm a bit) and a nod to the illusion-stripping
character of the live show. And that, young man, I will not explain much
further. You will have to buy a ticket.

BH: In your songs there's often
quite a bit of distance, and sometimes self-mockery, between you the singer and
you the girl in the song, while still maintaining an high level of emotion. do
you write in a state of emergency, or is it a slower and more complicated task
?

AP: It's all over the fucking
place...but I do find the the best songs come in quick fits with no stopping for
breath. Other songs, which can often take ten years to fully gestate and
resemble "complete" never sound quite as cohesive. "Slide"
was written in twenty minutes when I was 15. "Girl Anachronism" came
in a few days when I was closer to 23.

BH: you just postponed the
European tour, do you have any idea when it will happen ?

AP: Fall, if all goes as
planned...

BH: what are the next plans for the band ?

AP: We're taking a rest for the
next few months and doing a bit of touring int he states. I am currently trying
to replace my dying piano with a living one so I can get back to writing in
earnest. Then we'll be on tour all summer with almost no breaks....and
fall will be Europe and the new album sessions.

STUPID QUESTIONS:

"Was you ever bit by a
dead bee ??"

It's possible that I didn't notice
it.

what becomes of the broken
hearted ??

They go to Morrisseyland.

who's got the crack ??

I do.

what's your favourite pick-up
line ??

You are very good looking and I
think I like you. Would you like to start a conversation that might lead to a
relationship with me? (works every time)

if you could travel in time,
where would you go and what would you do ??

I'd go to the sixties and hang out
for a while. Anything farther away would be disorienting.